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Friday, March 29, 2013

Oh the creators of Re Creo are a really special and caring group of people. I was lucky to have had a second chance to go to another fabulous dinner (and took my friend and chef, James Holmes). I was chatting with Jean, one of the talented chef's afterwards and I was telling him that after the two dinners, I left feeling more inspired and motivated to be better, to strive for more and to continue to be creative in my own way. He was so happy because that is one of the purposes of Re Creo, to create inspiration through food and community. So I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Great job to the Re Creo team for yet another successful and wonderful dinner. This dinner was great, it was on a Sunday, it was still light out, the crowd felt relaxed, happy and super at ease. It's so awesome how you always make friends and find so much in common with the people that are congregated at the dinner table.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

This is a twist on the spaghetti and clams that I had when I went to Vegas and ate at Sinatra. This is a simple dish, easy to make and doesn't require rocket science. And when your cooking does require rocket science, then step away from the kitchen, no meal should require THAT much effort.

I started out by making fresh pasta, because what else would you expect of me? If you are too lazy to click (this would probably be me), here is the recipe for the pasta:

Dash of saltCreate well in your flour, add some salt around the well, add your eggs, whisk together and incorporate your flour as you are whisking. Until you can whisk no more, roll up your sleeves and begin kneading away and incorporating all of the flour, as much as it'll let you. Add a little olive oil if you feel that your dough is drying out (this is dependent on climate, warmth of your prep area, etc...) and continue to knead until your arms feel funny (8 mins). Wrap your dough in saran wrap and let sit for 30 minutes. I've found the longer it sits, the silkier my pasta. Sounds pretty sexy, no? Okay, maybe yes.For the clams and mushrooms and sauce I used the following ingredients:

Olive oil, enough to coat your skillet1/2 bottle of white wine 1/4 c. tomato paste1 tbsp. chili flakes5 cloves of garlic, chopped1 bag of cremini mushroom (Trader Joe's brand)1 can of clams (Trader Joe's brand)Salt & Pepper to tasteIn a large heated skillet, add olive oil and garlic, sautee until fragrant. Add the mushrooms, which I had drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and fresh black pepper earlier, and sautee until cooked down slightly. Open your clams, drain the water, take the clams to your cutting board and give them a rough chop a few times around, add to the skillet. Let garlic, mushrooms and clams cook for a few minutes. Add the white wine, tomato paste, chili flakes and let simmer together.Separately, bring a small pot of salted water to boil, and cook off your spaghetti (or linguine if you'd like) and add the cooked pasta directly to the skillet. I like to have the pasta water in my sauce as well. Since I used fresh pasta, it took about 3 minutes to bring my pasta to a boil and to cook off. Incorporate your spaghetti into the sauce, clams and mushrooms and serve immediately. Of course, never serve without freshly grated parmesan cheese! And I could've added basil on top, if I had it. Next time, next time.

Monday, March 25, 2013

I am so happy that Spring is here! I started prepping my veggie garden and am really hoping that this crop produces some great produce.

In the pots in the back I planted sweet basil and a variety of mild peppers. And in the tray from left to right I planted lettuce, radishes, and green beans. I also have a small square of tomatoes that are germinating right now but hopefully they'll be good to go by end of spring!

Can't wait to transplant these bad boys into the ground and watch them grow and heck, use them in my future recipes!

Friday, March 22, 2013

I wanted to share a salad that I have been having for the past two weeks. I know, obsessed much right? But it's such a light and delicious salad that is perfect for lunch, to take to work, or to have as a side for dinner. I have been making different variations of this salad, and mixing it up with dressings. But today, I am featuring the salad with a orange and tahini dressing (dressing adapted from Use Real Butter.)

Feel free to add any protein to this salad, I'm sure it would taste just as delicious!

Ingredients for dressing:
1 orange, squeezed
3 tbsp. tahini
Fresh pepper, to your liking
1 tsp. lemon juice
*Whisk ingredients together and chill in the refrigerator until ready for use. I make a small batch and keep it in the fridge for the week.

I made this salad this morning, took all but 5 minutes to gather my ingredients, put it together and pack it in my bag!

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Remove seed from avocado and toss each half into the food processor (I've tried it before in a blender and found it harder to scoop out the mousse and didn't receive a super smooth consistency), along with the cocoa powder and agave. . Blend until all avocado and cocoa powder is incorporated. Usually, I will let it spin for 2 mins, stop, use my rubber spatula to incorporate the mousse, and repeat twice until everything is incorporated.

I can't remember where I originally got this recipe from, but I did check out Giada De Laurentiis's recipe and felt that it was super rich, so I altered the recipe to be what I remembered previously.

Monday, March 18, 2013

I love waffles. They are my favorite breakfast item, and I really love Belgian waffles, but I don't have a Belgian waffle maker... so anywho! For a person who loves waffles, I certainly don't use my waffle maker as often as I should. So I decided to pull it out and make use of the wheat flour I had when I attempted to make wheat pasta (wasn't my favorite pasta creation).

Mix your dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, sugar). Mix your wet ingredients together (agave syrup, egg, milk, butter). Slowly combine your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients by whisking the two together. You can use a mixer, I just used a whisk to avoid the additional clean up (let's keep it real, and efficient people!).

Once you have a nice consistent batter, heat up your waffle maker and once ready, use a 1 cup measuring cup to scoop your batter onto your waffle maker. It should take about 7-8 minutes for the waffle to be cooked and well done. You can choose to monitor it closer if you like a soft waffle, but I like em crispy.

I chose to top my waffle with blueberries, butter and lite syrup.

Making waffles from scratch is so easy (and cost effective!), why would you want to buy a frozen product? That way you can control the amount of additives that are in the waffles themselves and eliminate anything that has to do with preservatives. If you have children, you can have them help in the kitchen (even if its just adding the blueberries on top!).

Eating "healthy" is a lifestyle change, and this is a great way to start! Making food from scratch.

Friday, March 8, 2013

I have been exchanging Facebook messages with The Pasta Queen on Facebook a few weeks back and she gave me the push to make the Squid Ink Pasta. Well, she so graciously shared my story on her Facebook page and posted a picture that I provided. Yay :)

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

So I have been interested in venturing away from just regular pasta. I wanted to try squid ink pasta, from scratch. I had this once at a restaurant and thought it was super delicious and I wanted to make it on my own. With encouragement from friends and family, I made my way over to the Italian deli to purchase the squid ink packets and double zero flour. I could've ordered it online, but why wait for shipping!? I'm impatient like that.

Peel and devine your shrimp, I get mine from the fish market already devined, but I go through the shrimp, peel and cut down the spine to ensure vein's have been removed. I season the shrimp with sea salt and cracked black pepper and set that aside.

Heat up skillet, add olive oil, butter, and garlic and jalapenos. Let garlic simmer in sauce. Then add white wine and shrimp. Season shrimp again with salt and cracked black pepper.

(At this point, bring a pot of water to boil and add pasta to cook al dente)

Let shrimp turn pink and go ahead and add about 1/4 c. of tomato paste. As your sauce is simmering, and shrimp has cooked through completely, drop in your pasta and incorporate into shrimp and sauce. I don't drain my pasta, I just use tongs to transfer from pot to skillet. The pasta water will add to the existing sauce that you are cooking.

Shrimp getting pink in wine, butter, olive oil and garlicky goodness

Ta-Da! Garnish with some chopped flat leaf pasta and a dash of lemon juice

This dish took about 15 minutes to cook, very simple and an easy-to-do during the week! And you guys, double 00 flour? This is the right stuff to be using!!! The difference between double zero and all-purpose flour is like night and day. The pasta came out so perfect and silky smooth, it was unbelievable.

Monday, March 4, 2013

So I'm trying to find the words to describe how great this experience was but I'm at a loss! This new Re Creo supperclub is an fantastic idea. It starts with being greeted at the Chef's home, Jean and Tinh were our wonderful chefs, Alex was part of the team as a server, Chris was a great host. My friend Ginny and I went together, all that was asked is that we bring along a bottle of wine, and at the end of the meal, there are donation envelopes in which you can leave a tip/donation for the evening.

I really hope these underground dinners take off, because honestly, when will you find yourself at a dinner table with people that you would probably never envision sitting with, ever!? Yeah, that's what I thought. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves, because honestly, they do speak for themselves. I think about every bite I took when I look at the pictures again and how wonderful everything tasted. Each dish was thought out, and you could tell that it was prepared and made with intent.

Thank you Re Creo for an amazing evening and for letting me borrow the pork belly and dessert pictures, since I so gracefully effing forgot to take the pictures!

Menu board

Ceviche Chiclayano - Delicious white fish with "popcorn" and piece of corn from the cob.

"Sushi" - Nothing sushi like about this plate. Mostly vegan. Starting at the top, mushroom, in the middle, watermelon, towards the bottom, avocado.

Salmon Gravlax - Beets 3 way with a horseradish cream.

Cozy egg squid ink raviolo, roasted peppers, chicharron. You guys, I don't voluntarily eat eggs. I've never eaten a hard boiled egg in my life and I promise you, I will never ever do that. BUT this cozy ass egg that was in my ravioli? AMAZING! It didn't even taste like egg, way to sneak up on me Jean and Tinh. You get props for sneaking eggs in like that.

Friday, March 1, 2013

I finally made the trek over to the Italian deli that is about 10 miles from my house to get my hands on some 00 flour! I know, how was I making fresh pasta without 00 flour!? I have no idea but I seriously cannot wait to give this a try. There is a misconception that Tipo 00 is for pizza, but this is definitely the type of flour to be used for fresh pasta, it has the lowest gluten index.

I also bought squid ink! I am beyond excited to try this to make fresh squid ink pasta. Oh, it's glorious, and yes, it is black pasta! Best used with seafood dishes, since it is squid ink - which comes from squid (duh!?). Basically, when the squidy feels that it is being preyed on, it shoots out the black ink to confuse the other specie. It's a defense mechanism.

Look out for some new blog posts featuring the double zero flour and squid ink!